Surviving the Sexist Genocide in Guatemala

By Danilo Valladares
GUATEMALA CITY, Feb 8 (IPS) "He would punch my head all the time,
pull my hair, smack and kick me. And he would make me wear long sleeves to
hide the bruises; even on my wedding day I had a black and blue mark on my
arm," Heidi Velásquez told IPS in Guatemala.

"That's how your days, weeks, months and years go by until you
understand the circle of violence, which starts with insults, then goes on
to blows, then the 'honeymoon', and then silence, until it
starts all over again," she said, describing her life with her
husband and attacker.

Despite everything, Velásquez, a 32-year-old mother of two, was
lucky: she found the strength to seek support, and put an end to her
marriage, leaving behind 12 years of violence.

In this Central American country of 14 million people, 46,000 complaints
of domestic violence filed last year made it to the legal system.

But thousands of victims of gender-related killings have not survived.
Between 2000 and 2010, more than 5,200 women were killed in this
impoverished country, most of them shot to death, according to the police.

In terms of gender violence, that figure outshadows even Ciudad
Juárez, a Mexican city on the U.S. border that is notorious for the
hundreds of unsolved murders of young women, mainly factory workers,
involving sadistic sexual violence since 1993. These gender-related
killings, known as "femicides," rose to 306 in 2010, according
to official figures.

Guatemala is one of the most violent countries in the world, with a murder
rate of 52 per 100,000 population.

Velásquez has survived her personal tragedy, but it hasn't been
easy. She has to raise her children, ages five and nine, on her own; she
is seeing a psychologist; and she is involved in a legal dispute with her
former husband, who is accused of misogyny, child abuse and other
offences.

"I don't regret the decision I made. Our economic situation is
different, but we have enough to eat and there is love in our house. Now
the atmosphere is different; we don't feel frightened or
denigrated," she said.

The risks of putting up a legal fight are enormous, as 23-year-old Mindy
Rodas tragically learned.

The young mother of a five-year-old boy had part of her face cut off with
a machete by her husband Eswin López in July 2009. She miraculously
survived and immediately launched a legal battle. While she was recovering
in hospital, the police arrested her attacker.

But her hopes for justice died fast. Just a few days later, López was
released on a judge's order, based on a forged document that was
presented, which stated that the case had been withdrawn.

Rodas did not give up, however, and sought support from non-governmental
organisations and the authorities to clarify the case, while she issued a
call for the fight against violence against women in the local and
international media, removing the surgical mask that she typically wore to
cover her disfigured face.

In February 2010, she travelled to Mexico to begin reconstructive plastic
surgery. But she plunged into depression and returned to Guatemala.

On Dec. 18, her tortured, strangled body appeared in the capital,
alongside the corpse of another young woman.

They thus joined the ranks of the 680 victims of femicide in Guatemala
last year.

The trial opens on Jun. 16. But Mindy, as she is affectionately known by
the public in Guatemala, will not be able to testify. Death caught up to
her before justice did.

According to the United Nations-mandated International Commission Against
Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), 98 percent of all murders go unsolved in
Guatemala.

"I was shocked when they told me Mindy was dead," said
Velásquez, unable to stem her tears. "How sad that the laws
aren't enforced here, even when all the evidence is in, and the proof
of physical violence is in plain sight."

Norma Cruz, director of the Survivors Foundation, a women's rights
organisation based in Guatemala City, told IPS that "women should
report any attack, so that it will be investigated.

"As long as the aggressor is in the house, the chances that these
women will be murdered increase," said the activist, whose foundation
is providing support to Rodas' family and to Velásquez.

But the cost of reporting the violence is high, because "many of the
women have to leave their homes, friends and families to avoid being found
by their partners, and they also have to deal with the post-traumatic
psychological stress," Cruz said.

Financial difficulties, therapy and legal disputes are part of the
challenges that the victims have to face, "even if they receive
support from family members and friends," she added.

But the violence can take many forms, and the victims have different ways
of dealing with it.

"The violence I suffered wasn't physical, but
psychological," Telma Sarceño, 52, told IPS. "It was
subtle, and you think it's normal, and you put up with it for your
children, and because you don't want to change.

"It's seen as normal for a woman to be under someone's
authority, there's an idea that you have to do this and be like this
because you're a woman; we have to change this way of thinking,"
she said.

With that aim, Sarceño and seven other victims of gender violence
staged a play about their lives, "Las Poderosas" (roughly, the
powerful ones) in 2010, to raise awareness about domestic violence.

"At first I felt afraid to show the public what I had gone through.
But as time has passed, it has become more gratifying. Especially because
of the life-changing message we're putting out there," said
Sarceño, who is aware that her case is not the most severe.

Fabiola Ortiz, director of the National Coordinator for the Prevention of
Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women (CONAPREVI), a government
body, told IPS that "10 years ago people didn't even believe
violence against women was a problem."

Even though "it is a very complex phenomenon linked to the unequal
power relations between men and women," Ortiz believes some progress
has been made.

"Today the problem has credibility, its existence is recognised, we
have a law against femicide, the institutions are creating mechanisms to
tackle the issue, and women are reporting more cases," the official
said.

Ortiz explained that her work goes beyond coordinating public policies to
provide assistance to victims. CONAPREVI also works to change
society's mindset, through educational and informational campaigns.

But she acknowledged that change won't happen overnight. In the
meantime, the media continue to report on the ongoing violence against
women: "Alta Verapaz Reports One Rape a Day in January" read a
recent headline in one local newspaper, Prensa Libre, referring to a
province in northern Guatemala.